page_title: Marco Simoncelli
section_title: 2011
hierarchical_section_title: Marco Simoncelli / Career / MotoGP World Championship / 2011
caption_attribution_description: English: Marco Simoncelli at Phillip Island, 2011. One week before his death.
context_page_description: Marco Simoncelli was an Italian professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the MotoGP World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. He started in the 125cc class before moving up to the 250cc class in 2006. He won the 2008 250cc World Championship with Gilera. After four years in the intermediate class, he stepped up to the top MotoGP class in 2010, racing with the Honda Gresini Team. Simoncelli died in an accident during the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang on 23 October 2011 after being run over following his own fall on track.
context_section_description: In the 2011 season, Simoncelli was promoted to ride a factory Honda as part of the Gresini team, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama rode a satellite Honda for the team. Simoncelli was predicted to be the surprise package of the season.
  He finished fifth in the season opening race in Qatar, before falling from the lead of the wet race at Jerez.
  He secured his highest starting position to that point of 2nd, before falling on the first lap of the Estoril race.
  During the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Simoncelli collided with Dani Pedrosa while they were battling for second. The resulting crash saw Pedrosa break his collarbone and Simoncelli received a ride-through penalty, eventually finishing fifth.
  Simoncelli initially rejected blame for the crash, claiming he braked no later than normal, and that he left Pedrosa room.
  Before the next race, however, he accepted that he needed to reflect on his riding style.
  Simoncelli was required to meet with race direction before the start of the racing weekend at Catalonia.
  On the track, Simoncelli secured his first MotoGP pole position, 0.016 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner.
  However, a poor start saw him drop to seventh managing only to recover one position to finish sixth. Simoncelli earned his first podium in the premier class, with a third place in the Czech Republic. His best MotoGP finish was second place in the Australian GP at Phillip Island.
caption: Simoncelli at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island
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